Tabernacle safe



J. G. ZIMMERLI TABERNACLE SAFE Nov. 1, 1949 Filed April 23; 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR: Jacoh 6. Z/mmer/i' /m i h/ 1% Nov. 1, 1949 J. G. ZIMMERLI TABERNACLE SAFE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 23. 1948 INVENTOR Jacob GZ/m/rrer/i BY A TTORNE).

Patented Nov. 1, 1949 TABERNACLE SAFE Jacob G. Zimmerli, New Hyde Park, N. Y., as-

signor to Benziger Brothers, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 23, 1948, Serial N0. 22,750

This invention relates to improvements in tabernacle safes and refers particularly to their opening, closing and locking means.

It is one of the principal objects of the invention to provide a secure lock which employs a standard key which is adapted to open the door of the safe fully by approximately one-third of its turn.

Another object is to provide a door which is fully suspended from the top of the safe by mechanism in operative relation to latching means actuated by the key in such a way as to make it impossible to disengage the latching means by exerting pressure against the door.

A further object is to provide a door operating mechanism which is noiseless in operation.

A still further object is to eliminate all exposed mechanism within the safe and all visible slots or the like which may cause the upsetting of the ciborium when removing it from the safe.

Still other objects will become apparent as the invention is better understood after a perusal of the following specification and a study of the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown and in which Fig. l is a horizontal sectional view of the safe compartment proper with its door in a closed position, the outer portion of sheathing of the tabernacle safe being indicated in dotted lines only for sake of clearness, and part of the bottom of the compartment being broken away to show the locking mechanism;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the safe compartment, the locking mechanism, and supports corresponding to Fig. l with the outer part of the safe again indicated in dotted lines only;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary View of the latching means in a closed position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but the latching means shown in an open position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the locking mechanism along the plane of line 55 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the door operating mechanism showing the door in an open position and in which the safe compartment walls, outer part of the safe, and the latching means were omitted for sake of clearness;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevational view of the lower parts of the mechanism shown in Fig. 6, both Figs. 6 and 7 being drawn on a larger scale than the preceding ones;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional View along the plane of line 8--8 in Fig. 1;

5 Claims. (Cl. 312-33) Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail of the locking mechanism proper corresponding to Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged plan view of the latching means proper; and

Fig. 11 is an elevational View of the latching means shown in 10 with its open position shown in dotted lines.

Like characters of reference denote similar parts throughout the several views and the following specification.

20 is an outer cylindrical shell of the tabernacle safe shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1, 2 and 8, having an enlarged base 2| and a rectangular opening 22. 23 is a safe compartment proper of cylindrical shape having a cylindrical vertical wall 24 closed by a top plate 25 and a bottom plate 26. 21 is a rectangular door opening in wall 24 in substantial vertical alignment with opening 22.

2B is a base strap fastened to the enlarged base 2! of the outer shell 20 of the safe by screws 29. is a center bolt through a hub 31 of the strap 28. 32 is a support plate, the shape of which is more clearly shown in Fig. 6. The central part of the plate 32 is fitted over bolt 30 and is held in position between lock nuts 33. Bolted to the forward end of support plate 32 is a bracket 34.

35 is a cylinder lock fastened to the front of shell 20 having a barrel 35 for the reception of the usual key. The barrel has secured to it a small shaft 31 which is rotatably supported in bracket 34 and extends through the same to reoeive a pinion 38. 39 are two rollers secured to the inner side of bracket 34 adapted slidingly to support a gear rack A0 in mesh with pinion 38.

4| is a small cam at one end of the rack 40.

Rack Ml is extended rearwardly at 42 and bent downwardly to form two spaced lugs 43 having resilient inserts 44 at opposed faces.

45 is a straight lever rotatably supported by its hub upon center bolt 30. A small roller 46 is mounted upon one end of lever 45. This roller is positioned between opposed face inserts 44 in back of rack in such a way that there is a space for idling movement of the roller between these faces as will be explained later. The other end of lever is pivoted at 41 to a link 48 which is pivoted at 49 to a curved lever 50. Lever 50 is fulcrumed upon a pin 5| supported upon plate 32, is bent substantially at right angles and terminates in a free end having an open slot 52 near the wall '24 opposite to where pin 5| is located on plate 32.

Also mounted rotatably upon center bolt 30 is a bottom arm 53 to which are connected three uprights 54 extending upwardly to above the top plate 25 of the safe. 55 is a cover plate over the top of the outer shell 20 of the safe having a bolt 56 in its center and extending downwardly to be suitably fastened to the top plate 25 of the safe compartment 23. A door suspension arm 51 is fulcrumed on bolt 56 having an extension 58 to register with bottom arm 53 and to receive the top ends of uprights 54. The suspension arm 5? has a downwardly extending arcuate door 59 secured to it adapted to slide in the space between shell 20 and wall 24. Door 59 is somewhat larger than opening 21 and is adapted to be positioned when closed between jamb strips 60 and BI disposed between shell 20 and wall 24 as shown in Fig. l. The bottom arm '53 has a pin 62 supporting a roller 63 disposed within the slot 52 at the end of lever 50.

Fastened to the top of support plate 32 is a bracket 65 to which is fulcrumed at 65 a latch lever 56 substantially parallel to the plate 32 having a downwardly extended end 6'! to which is fastened a set screw 68 which is adapted to engage cam 4| of gear rack 40. The other end of latch lever 66 has fulcrumed to it at 69 a latch H! having a notch H. A spring 12 between plate 32 and latch it normally holds latch in an horizontal position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 11, a pin 13 limiting its downward pull. A latch bolt 1-! fastened to the underside of the bottom arm 53, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 11, is adapted to engage the notch H of latch 10.

The operation of the locking mechanism is as follows:

In the closed position of the door shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 8 to 10, the cam 4| of the gear rack 40 engages the head of the set screw 68 which keeps latch lever 55 and latch H1 in an horizontal position, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 11, while latch bolt M is within the notch H. The door is thus effectively locked.

To open the door, the key is inserted into the barrel 38 of lock 35 and turned to the right which also rotates the pinion 38 and moves the gear rack in an horizontal direction to the left. 0wing to the idling space between insert faces 44 and roller 46, it takes about twenty degrees of rotation of the key before the roller 46 of lever 45 contacts the left face. During this movement cam ll has disengaged set screw 68 of latch lever 66. This position is shown in Fig. 5. At the same time, spring 12 pulls latch lever 66 and latch 10 downwardly into the position shown in Fig. 4 which disengages latch bolt 14 from the notch H in the latch. Continued turning of the key then moves the lever 45 gradually to assume the position shown in Fig. 6. While this takes place link 48 moves curved lever 50 along also to the position shown in Fig. 6 being fulcrumed about pin 5| on stationary plate 32. The slotted end of curved lever '50 engages the roller 63 at the underside of the bottom arm 53 which being connected by the uprights 54 to the door suspension arm 5'! from which the door 59 depends, causes the door to open and slide in the space between shell 20 and wall 24 of the safe compartment. The open position of the door and its associated levers are clearly shown in Fig. 6. Door stops l5 and 76 with resilient faces are diagrammatically indicated in Fig. 6 to provide for noiseless stops for the door.

In closing the door, the cycle of operation is 1reversed by turning the key in an opposite direc- The possibility of jimmylng the door and opening it is practically eliminated, because the latch becomes disengaged only after a turn of the key of about twenty degrees. The door being suspended and balanced makes opening and closing an easy manipulation with the key. The entire mechanism being disposed in the base of the safe below the compartment proper as well as immediately above it and being separated from it by walls insures entirely noiseless operation aided by the usual ball bearings in which the rollers and shafts in the mechanism operate. The entire safe compartment with its mechanism is mounted on the base and support plates and can readily be placed within the tabernacle shell.

It is obvious that various changes in the form, proportions and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principles or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as new, is:

1. In a tabernacle safe comprising an outer shell having a front opening, a substantially cylindrical safe compartment supported within the shell in spaced relation therewith, and having a front opening in register with the opening in the shell, an arcuate door for the openings adapted to slide in the space between the shell and compartment; means to operate the door including lever mechanism, a fixed bottom plate supporting the mechanism, latching means between the door and bottom plate, means to release the door from the latching means for unlocking the door comprising a lock having a barrel, a key in the barrel, connections between the barrel and latching means means whereby the connections between the barrel and latching means are disengaged by rotating the barrel by the key approximately 20 degrees, and means whereby the door is opened by continuous rotation of the barrel.

2. In a tabernacle safe comprising an outer shell having a front opening, a substantiall cylindrical safe compartment supported within the shell in spaced relation therewith and having a front opening in register with the opening in the shell, an arcuate door for the openings adapted to slide in the space between the shell and compartment; means to operate the door including lever mechanism, a fixed bottom plate supporting the mechanism, latching means between the door and bottom plate, means to release the door from the latching means for unlocking the door comprising a lock in the outer shell, a barrel in the lock rotatable by a key, the barrel having a shaft extending inwardly, a pinion on the shaft, a gear rack engaging the pinion operatively connected with the latching means, means whereby the connections between the gear rack and latching means are disengaged by rotating the barrel by the key approximately 20 degrees, and means whereby the door is opened by continuous rotation of the barrel.

3. In a tabernacle safe comprising an outer shell having a front opening, a substantially cylindrical safe compartment supported within the shell in spaced relation therewith and having a front opening in register with the opening in the shell, an arcuate door for the openings adapted to slide in the space between the shell and compartment; means to operate the door including a suspension arm rotatably disposed above the compartment, a bottom arm rotatably disposed belowthe compartment, the suspension arm having an extension, means outside of the compartment rigidly connecting the extension with the bottom arm, the door being suspended from the suspension arm, lever mechanism below the bottom arm, a fixed bottom plate supporting the mechanism, latching means between the bottom arm and the bottom plate locking the bottom arm and lever mechanism, means to release the door from the latching means for unlocking the door comprising a lock having a barrel, 2. key in the barrel, connection between the barrel and latching means preventing unlocking of the latching means when the door is closed, means whereby the connections between the barrel and latching means are disengaged by rotating the barrel by the key approximately 20 degrees and thereby unlocking the latching means, and means whereby the door is opened by continuous rotation of the barrel.

4. In a tabernacle safe comprising an outer shell having a front opening, a substantially cylindrical safe compartment supported Within the shell in spaced relation therewith and having a front opening in register with the opening in the shell, an arcuate door for the openings adapted to slide in the space between the shell and compartment; means to operate the door including a lock in the outer shell, a barrel in the lock rotatable by a key, the barrel having a shaft extending therefrom inwardly, a pinion on the shaft, a plate in the base of the shell, a gear rack engaging the pinion slidingly supported upon the plate, a bracket upon the plate, a latch lever fulcrumed in the bracket, one end of the rack engaging one end of the latch lever, a latch bolt connected to the door engaging the latch lever and holding the door in a closed position, lugs in spaced relation on the rack, an end of a lever forming part of the door operating mechanism terminating within the lugs adapted to contact one of the lugs only, a key in the barrel adapted to rotate the barrel approximately 20 degrees while the end of the lever forming part of the door operating mecha nism changes its position from contact with one of the lugs to contact with the other lug and the end of the rack disengages the end of the latch lever, and spring means to disengage the latch bolt from the latch lever upon disengagement of the latch lever from the rack whereby continuous rotation of the key in the barrel actuates the door operating mechanism and opens the door.

5. In a tabernacle safe comprising an outer shell having a front opening, a substantially cylindrical safe compartment supported within the shell in spaced relation therewith and having a front opening in register with the opening in the shell, an arcuate door for the openings adapted to slide in the space between the shell and compartment; means to operate the door including a suspension arm rotatably disposed above the compartment, a bottom arm rotatably disposed below the compartment, the suspension arm having an extension, means outside of the compartment rigidly connecting the extension with the bottom arm, the door being suspended from the suspension arm, lever mechanism below the bottom arm, a lock in the outer shell, a barrel in the lock rotatable by a key, the barrel having a shaft extending therefrom inwardly, a pinion on the shaft, a plate in the base of the shell pivotally supporting the lever mechanism and the bottom arm, a gear rack engaging the pinion slidingly supported upon the plate, a bracket upon the plate, a latch lever fulcrumed in the bracket, one end of the rack engaging one end of the latch lever, a latch bolt at the underside of the bottom arm engaging the latch lever and holding the door in a closed position, lugs in spaced relation on the rack, an end of a lever forming a part of the lever mechanism terminating within the lugs adapted to contact one of the lugs only, a key in the barrel adapted to rotate the barrel approximately 20 degrees while the end of the lever forming part of the lever mechanism changes its position from contact with one of the lugs to contact with the other lug and the end of the rack disengages the end of the latch lever, and spring means to disengage the latch lever from the latch bolt upon disengagement of the latch lever from the rock, Whereby continuous rotation of the key in the barrel actuates the lever mechanism and opens the door.

JACOB G. ZIMMERLI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,185,539 Rauwald May 30, 1916 1,924,365 Mariotti Aug. 29, 1933 1,951,432 Mertel Mar. 20, 1934 1,956,958 Mertel May 1, 1934 

